A quiet man's blog.

Slideshow

Aug 05, 2016

The musical world today (Friday) commemorates the centenary of the death of one of the most promising young composers of his age – killed in action in the Battle of the Somme while leading North-East soldiers.

George Butterworth, was serving as a lieutenant with Durham Light Infantry’s 13th Battalion, when he was shot by sniper during an attack on a trench at Pozier, on August 5, 1916.

He is probably best known for The Banks of Green Willow and for setting Alfred Edward Housman’s A Shropshire Lad to music in 1912.

Feb 11, 2012

Gustav Mahler: The last 10 minutes from the Finale of his 10th Symphony.

That symphony is unfinished, only a torso. Written in 1910/ 1911. The Mahler-experts Deryck Cook and Berthold Goldschmidt created this performing version of that torso, you're listening here. Performed by the Berliner Sinfonieorchester, the conductor is Kurt Sanderling.

For me the whole symphony, especially the Finale, is the most beautiful music ever known. That last 10 minutes start after a shocking dissonant climax of bitterness, when the strings and horns turn the hard emotions down again.

Feb 25, 2011

1801: The Jacquard Weaving Loom Designed by Joseph Marie Jacquard, the loom was the first machine to use punched cards to control a series of sequences. In order to change the pattern the machine made, all that had to be done was change the card -- a key step in the development of computer programming.

May 20, 2010

The MCC Museum at Lord's is trying to dispel a few myths, and reveal some surprising connections, in a new exhibition that looks at the shared history of cricket and baseball.
The Curator of Collections, Adam Chadwick, took reporter Andrew Hosken on a trip back in time.

Audio slideshow:
'Swinging Away: How Cricket and Baseball Connect' is on display at Lord's Cricket Ground until December 2010.
Images courtesy: Marylebone Cricket Club, National Baseball Hall of Fame, CC Morris Cricket Library, RV Photography,Getty Images and the Press Association.
Music by KPM Music and Nat King Cole.
Slideshow production by Paul Kerley and Andrew Hosken. Publication date 20 May 2010.